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Which museum first added photographs to its collection?

Posted by Timothy Greyhavens on June 5, 2015 at 20:00

This could be a trivia question, but I'm asking it as a serious inquiry. Does anyone know which museum first collected photographs? I'm not looking for the first that exhibited photographs (although that might be interesting as well), but rather which museum first acquired a photograph as either an art form or a scientific object in their collection.

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Tags: acquisition, collection, first, history, museum
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  • Dustin King February 2, 2026 15:06

    From what I’ve seen documented, the Victoria and Albert Museum (then the South Kensington Museum) is widely cited as the first museum to start collecting photographs, beginning in 1852.

    Side note for anyone posting examples in the thread: if you run into old scans/images in odd formats, I sometimes normalize them to JPG first (e.g., https://webptojpghero.com) so they display reliably in forum posts.

     
     

     
  • Dr. Joe Rock May 2, 2018 17:48

    I think the Royal Scottish Academy may have exhibited photographs early (David Octavius Hill was a member) and their collection morphed with the National Galleries of Scotland although not sure exactly when photographs became part of their collection. Might be worth contacting them.

    • Graham Smith > Dr. Joe Rock April 6, 2026 9:38

      The first exhibition was apparently 1844, which doesn't help with the original question.

      "When their first efforts were exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy of Arts in 1844, they were titled as ‘executed by R. Adamson under the artistic direction of D. O. Hill’. Their calotype portraits, at first seen as convenient studies for a grand painting, emerged with a power and truthfulness of their own."

      From Description of 'Hill, David Octavius, Photographs by David Octavius Hill (1812-1870) and Robert Adamson (1821-1848), c1830s-1840s. Photographs by David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson. Glasgow School of Art Archives and Collections. GB 1694 HA/2' on the Archives Hub website, [http://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/data/gb1694-ha/ha/2], (date accessed :06/04/2026)

        

  • Noorie February 24, 2018 18:47
    The Blackmore Museum (Salisbury, Wiltshire. UK) had a vast collection in the 1860’s documenting Native Americans. The collection moved to the British Museum, London and is now archived on line, but not exhibited. Google their website ‘Blackmore Collection’. And lots to read up about the founder William Blackmore
  • Richard Sullivan HonFRPS September 9, 2016 6:04

    The one in Chalon?

    --Dick Sullivan

  • michael g. jacob June 10, 2016 15:17

    I have a strong feeling that the Museum of the History of Science in Oxford may hold that honour. Contact archivist Tony Simcock. I'm sure he'd be happy to tell you.

  • Timothy Greyhavens June 14, 2015 19:08

    Thank you, Michael. I'd searched here under "first exhibition" but I did not see that particular post. I appreciate your bringing it to my attention. Apparently the people at V & A have not see it either.

  • Michael Pritchard June 7, 2015 11:31

    In terms of exhibition, BPH ran this some time ago: http://britishphotohistory.ning.com/profiles/blogs/1845-the-world-s... with Frankfurt's Städel Museum claiming the first photography exhibition in 1845.

  • Timothy Greyhavens June 5, 2015 22:15

    I have the answer to the question that I didn't ask: which museum held the first photography exhibition? The V & A claims that distinction. http://goo.gl/QA9YFT  Now hopefully someone can answer my original question.

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